A police report released to InMaricopa yesterday uncovers an unexpected connection between arrests we’ve covered in recent months. It’s a meth-fueled tale of snitching, stealing and sleuthing.

This monthslong investigation involving Vernon Trejo, 32, Lindsay Pye, 42, is a long one, so let’s begin at the very start.

An empty pickup filled with drugs 

Maricopa police received an alert from a Flock license plate reading camera Dec. 19 that a black Chevrolet Silverado with Colorado plates was driving southbound on John Wayne Parkway toward the Ak-Chin reservation.  

Police searched the roadway south of the reservation but could not find the pickup truck and called off the search. About two hours later, they received another alert that the Silverado was driving back into town. 

Officer Rene Ordonez reported finding the pickup truck at a gas pump at Circle K, 18141 N. John Wayne Parkway, but as he entered the parking lot, the truck left. 

Ordonez followed the pickup northbound into Desert Cedars, but lost sight of it before he eventually found it abandoned on Larkspur Drive.

Police canvassed the neighborhood but gathered only a low-quality video of a man and woman fleeing the truck. The man reportedly entered a nearby backyard. 

Officers collected fingerprints and DNA swabs from the vehicle, wherein they found a stolen credit card and tools, a computer bag, drug paraphernalia, 28 grams of methamphetamine and a shirt covered in what appeared to be blood.

The hot credit card and tools were confirmed to have been stolen from Phoenix-based BD Industries, along with a Chevrolet Traverse, which was not further noted in this case as that auto theft is still under investigation by the Phoenix Police Department. 

Stewie’s friend 

Police officers determined the female passenger in the stolen car was Tortosa resident Lindsey Pye with facial recognition software.

Det. Tyler Pappas called Pye by cell phone and asked her if she knew why they might want to talk to her. She replied, “Yes, uh, the vehicle I was in.”  

Pappas asked Pye to name the man who was driving the pickup truck, and she identified him as Trejo, but “advised Vernan Trejo goes by Stu because he has a very large head.” (Stewie Griffin from the adult cartoon Family Guy famously has a giant, football-shaped head.)

Pye told the officers that she and Trejo were visiting Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino and denied knowing the vehicle anything inside was stolen. However, she admitted that some of the drug paraphernalia in the pickup was hers. 

She said the duo reportedly hid out at a friend’s house near the abandoned pickup in Desert Cedars before checking into a room at the casino. 

Pye gave Pappas Trejo’s phone number, which he used to confirm his identity by comparing the man’s MVD photo to the Circle K surveillance video. He stated: “It appears to be the same person based on all the physical characteristics and due to the hairstyle and shape of the suspect’s and Vernon’s head.”

Another casino, same problems 

Maricopa Police Department was granted a search warrant for Trejo’s phone data and GPS location Jan. 28, Pappas noted in the 45-page report released yesterday.  

Officers arrived at Trejo’s Laveen home Feb. 4 with the intention of arresting him, but he was not there. When they pinged Trejo’s cell phone again, they tracked him to Vee Quiva Casino where Gila River Police Department officers detained him until MPD arrived. 

Pappas arrived and discovered that another man who was wanted for cutting copper pipes from new builds in Maricopa, Saddleback Farms resident Eric W. Lay, had recently showed up to pick up his car — the one Trejo had been driving.  

Both Lay and Trejo were then arrested at Vee Quiva and transported back to the Maricopa police station before being booked into the Pinal County jail. Lay’s case is pending in Western Pinal Justice Court. He also pleaded guilty to dangerous drugs charges in superior court in January.

Trejo was booked on charges of auto theft, driving a stolen car, possession of dangerous drugs for sale and drug paraphernalia. He was indicted Feb. 10 in Pinal County Superior Court, where his case is pending. He’ll stand for a hearing May 5. 

Charges were submitted against Pye for possession of dangerous drugs and drug paraphernalia. Her first day in court will be June 17.